Abstract (in English)

From the 1960-1970's, France has realized that the built, landscaped and natural heritage was not only a treasure to keep for rural areas, but has also an economic and social potential, on which these territories survival or development could be based. The result was the institution of Regional Natural Parks in 1967 and, in the 1970s, the launching of regional contracts for rural development which mostly included an heritage component.
To analyze and support this movement, the French section of the ICOMOS established in the late 1990's a standing Committee on "Heritage and local Sustainable Development"
that leads to interact with many actors, on both national and territorial scales.
The Office of Country Planning and Regional Development(Datar) has officially invited the Committee to participate in 2006, in cooperation with the association "Farmhouses in France", to the selection of 142 territories. Selected among the 376 "rural centers of excellence" (REP) certified that year, these 142 territories specifically based their development on the enhancement of their heritage. Convinced by this scientific and technical support, the Office of Country Planning and Regional Development entrusted the Committee with the coaching of 19 "rural centers of excellence", for two years.
This presentation aims at presenting this experiment, including several concrete cases.